KOYASAN

Commemoration of the 1250th
anniversary of the birth ofKōbō Daishi KŪKAI,the founder of KŌYASAN

Okunoin:The Area Sacred to Kōbō Daishi●●●

Who is Kōbō Daishi Kūkai? ● ● ●to eventual appointment as a government ofﬁcial. However,before graduating he became convinced that Buddhism was
the only way to bring true happiness to the people, and resolved to leave the university to become a wandering ascetic
in the mountains of Japan.
In his early thirties Kōbō Daishi went to China as a student monk from 804 to 806, and there he encountered thefamous Master Huiguo ( 恵果和尚 ) at the Qinglong monastery ( 青龍寺 ) in the capital of Changʼan (modern Xiʼan).
Huiguo gave Kūkai the full transmission of the authentic
teachings of Esoteric Buddhism that had been brought toChina from India. On his deathbed, Huiguo instructed Kūkai
to return to Japan and spread those teachings widely there,
and so Kūkai returned to Japan sooner than anticipated.
In 815 Kūkai was granted the area of Kōyasan ( 高野山 )in modern Wakayama Prefecture by the Emperor to use forthe construction of a monastery. His monastery is still ﬂourishing there 1,200 years later. Kūkai also served as the abbotof Tō-ji temple in Kyoto and Tōdai-ji temple in Nara.

Kōbō Daishi Kūkai ( 弘 法 大 師 空 海 , 774-835) was a
Japanese Buddhist monk and the founder of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism ( 真 言 密 教 ) in Japan. He is famous as agreat Buddhist thinker, writer, and practitioner, but is also
well-known for his charitable works for the good of society
and the enrichment of the people. He wrote many books onShingon Buddhism, was one of the three most noted calligraphers of his day, and is also known for his literary talents.
He composed a dictionary, and is said to have invented thekana writing system of Japanese. He built the ﬁrst school for
non-aristocratic children in Japan, and was also versed incivil engineering.
Kōbō Daishiʼs birth name was Saeki no Mao ( 佐伯真魚 ).
After he ordained as a Buddhist monk he was called Kūkai.
He was posthumously granted the honorific title Kōbō
Daishi by the Emperor. He is often affectionately called ODaishi-sama in Japan.
Kōbō Daishi was the son of a regional aristocratic familyin Shikoku, and after showing talent in his early years had
the opportunity to study the Confucian classics and other traditional subjects at the national university, on a track leading●●●

Okunoin and Kōbō Daishi’s eternal meditation ●●●It is believed that Kōbō Daishi never actually died, andinstead entered a kind of eternal meditation ( 入 定 留 身 )in 835. He had vowed that until the world came to an end
he would never stop working for the liberation of all beings
from suffering. It is believed that he is still continuously
praying for the good of the world even today at Okunoin.
Starting from the late Heian period, over 200,000 grave
markers and stone monuments have been built in the vicinityof Kōbō Daishiʼs mausoleum and along the path leading
to it by his devotees, including Buddhist monks, medieval
warriors and lords, andordinary people alike.
Okunoin is revered as asite sacred to Japanese
Buddhism, and many
people of all religious
denominations makepilgrimages to it eventoday.
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●● ● Gorintō and the teachings of Shingon Buddhism ● ● ●verse itself, which is thoroughly imbued with the wisdomof the Buddhas. All things in the world are thus in essence
deeply integrated with thewisdom of the Buddhas,
although this is difficult toactually experience without
training. This integration of
the wisdom of the Buddhas,
the consciousness of ordinary
beings, and also all of thephenomenal world is represented by the central Buddhaof Shingon Buddhism, Mahāvairocana Buddha ( 大日如来 ).
Giving this teaching a concrete form as a grave marker indicates that the deceased have returned to the universal natureof Mahāvairocana.

Many of the grave markers seen at Okunoin have a ﬁvelayered shape. This is called a gorintō ( 五輪塔 ) or a ﬁveelements stūpa, and the five stones placed on top of eachother represent the ﬁve elements that make up the physicalworld in Buddhism. From below, the stones are made in theshapes of a cube, sphere, pyramid, half-sphere, and what iscalled a jewel-shape. These shapes represent in that order
the elements of earth, water, ﬁre, wind, and space. On eachof the shapes a Sanskrit letter is carved representing that element, in sequence from below a-va-ra-ha-kha.
Kūkai wrote that the phenomenal world we know arises
through the combination of these ﬁve material elements withthe addition of consciousness. Consciousness is not represented in the ﬁve-elements stūpa because it is not physical.
Consciousness transforms into the wisdom of the Buddhas
according to Buddhism. These six together make up the uni-

The Dai-Garan:
The Mandala World of Shingon Buddhism●● ● What is the Garan? ● ● ●The word Garan ( 伽藍 ) is derived from the Sanskrit wordsaṅghārāma, originally meaning a forested place where Buddhist monks gather to train. The Dai-Garan ( 大 伽 藍 , theGreat Garan) of Kōyasan is where Kōbō Daishi ﬁrst began
construction of his monastery at Kōyasan for teaching Shingon Buddhism. Many of the important deities of Shingon
Buddhism are enshrined in the halls at the Dai-Garan, whereto this day the monks of Kōyasan train, conduct rituals, holdtraditional lectures, and engage in doctrinal debates.

2●● ● Legends on the founding of Kōyasan ● ● ●ideal place to build a monastery for teaching. Then he threw
a three-pointed vajra (a ritual implement of Esoteric Buddhism) into the air. It is said that the vajra rode on a cloudand disappeared into the sky going east toward Japan.
Later in Japan, Kōbō Daishi wandered through the mountains in search of a place to build his monastery. He is said tohave encountered a tall hunter with a white dog and a blackdog. The two dogs led Kōbō Daishi to Kōyasan where hediscovered the vajra he had thrown from China lodged in apine tree. He then knew that Kōyasan was the place to build
his monastery. The hunter is supposed to have been the local god Kariba Myōjin, so it is said that Kōbō Daishi foundKōyasan through divine favor. Later, Kōbō Daishi enshrined
the local protector goddess Niutsuhime ( 丹生都比売 ) and
her divine son Kariba Myōjin ( 狩 場 明 神 ) at a shrine on
the western edge of the Dai-Garan before building his monastery at Kōyasan.

The pine tree in the center of the Dai-Garan is called theSanko-no-Matsu, or the “pine tree of the three-pointed vajra”( 三 鈷 の 松 ). After Kōbō Daishi completed his study ofShingon Esoteric Buddhism in China, legend has it that justbefore he left China he prayed that he might be shown the●

● ● The Daitō: A Three-dimensional Maṇḍala ● ● ●A maṇḍala ( 曼 荼 羅 ) is an iconographic or visual representation of the teachings of Shingon Buddhism and theideal world of the Buddhas. The word maṇḍala in Sanskrit
literally means “that which possesses the essence.” The interior of the Great Stūpa (Daitō, 大塔 ) of the Dai-Garan isa three-dimensional maṇḍala with statues of the Five Buddhas ( 五 仏 ), with Mahāvairocana Buddha in the center.
They are surrounded by paintings of the Sixteen Bodhisattvas ( 十六大菩薩 ) on the pillars. In addition, images of theEight Patriarchs ( 八大祖師 ) of Shingon Buddhism, including Kōbō Daishi as the eighth patriarch along with the great
Indian and Chinese masters who preceded him, are paintedon the interior corners of the Daitō.
●●●

Who is Mahāvairocana Buddha? ●●●Mahāvairocana Buddha is the cosmic Buddha at the center of the maṇḍalas of Shingon Buddhism, and represents theuniversality and immutability of the wisdom of the Buddhas,
and also their boundless compassion. There are many otherBuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and so on in the maṇḍalas, who
are all manifestations of particular aspects of the totality ofMahāvairocanaʼs wisdom. Since Shingon Buddhism teaches
that all beings inherently possess the same awakening as theBuddhas, beings are all also, in essence, manifestations ofMahāvairocana. There are statues of Mahāvairocana Buddha at the center of the three-dimensional maṇḍalas inside
the Great Stūpa and the Western Stūpa (Saitō, 西塔 ) in theDai-Garan.

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●● ● What does Shingon Esoteric Buddhism teach? ● ● ●practice of compassion, and the ultimate purpose of pursuingawakening is to become fully able engage in compassionate
activities to aid and liberate other beings.
Shingon Buddhist practice makes use of what is called
the Three Mysteries ( 三 密 ) practice in order to realize
our inherent Buddhahood. The Three Mysteries are theperfected activities of the body, speech, and mind of theBuddhas. These are practiced by holding the hands in thegesture (mudrā) of the Buddha for the body, repeating theirwords (mantra) for speech, and meditating on their realizedstate for mind. These three methods are practiced together
in order to realize that we are fundamentally Buddhas ourselves. The Japanese translation of the Indian word mantra isshingon, showing the importance of mantra in Shingon Buddhism, along with the practices for body and mind.

Shingon Esoteric Buddhism is a form of Tantric or
Vajrayāna Buddhism ( 密教 ) that was brought to Japan via
China from India. Shingon Buddhism is related to TibetanBuddhism because both are derived from similar Indiansources. The two share many similarities, but also differences.
The core teaching of Shingon Buddhism is that the awakening of the Buddhas is inherently present in all beings
but covered over by delusions and unwholesome thoughts,
making that difﬁcult to know. Shingon Buddhism teaches
that through proper training one can uncover that inherent
awakening, and so attain Buddhahood during oneʼs present lifetime. Awakening is thus the profound realizationthat the Buddha, oneself, and all beings are essentially andfundamentally identical. Awakening is realized through the●● ● What does Esoteric mean? ● ● ●The word “esoteric” is used in Shingon Buddhism to indicate two teachings. First, that the Buddhas preach by adjusting their teachings according to the ability of their audiences
to comprehend, and so reserve some teachings until beings
are ready for them. In this case, the Buddha wisely holds
back teachings temporarily until the listener is ready forthem. The second is that by refusing to recognize the truthof inherent awakening, in a sense we conceal the truth fromourselves. The second meaning is the most important in
Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, and is what the word esoteric4

primarily means in that context. Esoteric here does not mean
a willful withholding of teachings to a select few. The teachings of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism are available to anyone,
but require careful sequential preparation through several
stages. The word “esoteric” is used to emphasize the need totrain ourselves to realize what was there all along but washidden to us by our own ignorance.

Kongōbu-ji Temple:
the Head Temple of Kōyasan Shingon-shū●● ● About Kongōbu-ji temple ● ● ●Originally the name for the entirety of the monastic complex at Kōyasan was Kongōbu-ji temple ( 金 剛 峯 寺 ).
Kongōbu-ji is named after some words in the title of a Buddhist text, and means Vajra Peak. The individual temples ofKōyasan are all sub-temples of Kongōbu-ji.
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, each religious organization was required to have a single governing head temple.
At the time, there were two large adjacent temples, Kōzanji and Seigan-ji temples. They were combined and renamed
Kongōbu-ji temple. Today, Kongōbu-ji refers to that combined temple.

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●● ● The Head Temple of Kōyasan Shingon-shū Buddhism ● ● ●Shingon-shū are used today for social welfare programs,
foster parent support, disaster assistance, the maintenanceof the head temple, the support of Kōyasan University,
Kōyasan High School, and other educational institutions
and religious training facilities, and for the environmental
conservation of the forests of Kōyasan.

Kongōbu-ji is now the head temple of the Kōyasan
Shingon-shū sect ( 高野山真言宗の総本山 ) of Buddhism
teaching Shingon Buddhism as taught by Kōbō Daishi.
Kōyasan Shingon-shū has about 4,000 member temples
in Japan, and about twenty affiliated temples in Northand South America. The donations received by Kōyasan●Kōbō Daishi was granted the regionof Kōyasan by Emperor Saga in 815
to use for building a monastery. Before
that, the area of Kōyasan had beenused by mountain ascetics for religious
training. The central flat valley ofKōyasan is auspiciously surroundedby eight hills like the eight petals ofa lotus, a flower sacred to Buddhism.
Also because of the streams flowing
down into the valley from thosesurrounding hills there was no shortageof water at Kōyasan, and given its
remoteness from the distractions of thecapital, Kōbō Daishi recognized it as
an ideal place to build his monastery.
After receiving permission to use theland from the Japanese Court, the ﬁrst
thing Kōbō Daishi did was to rituallyinvite the local goddess Niutsuhime● ● About Kōyasan ● ● ●6and her divine son Kariba Myōjin toreside at Kōyasan, while explaining
his intention to build a Buddhist
monastery there with their permission.
After that he began construction. Thebuildings of the Dai-Garan were added
one by one with considerable difﬁculty,
but it was not completed during Kōbō
Daishiʼs lifetime.
After Kōbō Daishi entered eternal
meditation in 835, people increasingly
began to make pilgrimages to Kōyasan.
Through their generous donations,the temples of Kōyasan grew in sizeand number. Although Kōyasan wasdeserted on several occasions during
its early history due to destruction
by fires, it rapidly developed into an
important Buddhist center in Japan.

Other Points of Interest●● ● Kōyasan Reihōkan Museum ● ● ●●Kōyasan Reihōkan Museum ( 高野山霊宝館 ) is an art
mu seum for the preservation and display of the art treasures of Kongōbu-ji temple and its sub-temples. It holds
21 National Treasures and 143 Important Cultural Properties, and has a collection of over 50,000 items. When Kōbō
Daishi returned from China, he brought with him manymaṇḍalas, Buddhist texts, paintings, and ritual implements.
Some of these can be seen today at the Reihōkan Museum,along with many important later works of Buddhist art.

●● ● Nyonindō Hall ● ● ●At the time of the founding of Kōyasan, Kōbō Daishi
envisioned it as a monastery for men. Until 1872 entry
into Kōyasan was restricted to men only. Women were notpermitted inside the precincts of Kōyasan to avoid distractions to the monks. Instead, seven temple buildings called
Nyonindō (Womenʼs Halls, 女人堂 ) were built around theouter circumference of Kōyasan so that women could also
make pilgrimages there. The path encircling Kōyasan andjoining those Nyonindō was called the Womenʼs Path ( 女人道 ), and can still be walked today. Only one of the seven
original halls survives today.

● ● Tokugawa Mausoleum ● ● ●●● ● Daishi Kyōkai Honbu ● ● ●Kōbō Daishiʼs teachings and positive way of life haveinspired many people to become his followers. The mainofﬁce at Kōyasan for disseminating the teachings of Kōbō
Daishi and related arts to these followers around Japan isthe Daishi Kyōkai Honbu ( 大師教会本部 ). There anyone
can receive the ten Buddhist lay precepts (jukai, 受戒 ) that
help one to lead a good and responsible life. The precepts
ceremony takes about thirty minutes, and is given seventimes every day to any interested person.

During the 265 years of the Edo period, Japan was ruledby the Tokugawa Shoguns. They had two mausoleums atKōyasan, one of which was destroyed but the other survives.
Called the Tokugawa-ke Reidai ( 徳川家霊台 ), it includes
mausolea dedicated to the first shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu
and his son and the second shogun Tokugawa Hidetada.
The Tokugawa family were historically generous donors toKōyasan, and the ornate richness of these mausolea testify
to their unequalled political power at the time.

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KOYASAN MAP
N

Gokuraku bashi Station

Okuno-inKoyasan Station

To kudoyama・katsuragi

Nyonindō Hall

480

Tokugawa Mausoleum

Dai-Garan

DaimonGobyo no hashi Bridge

Nakanohashi
BridgeKongōbu-ji Temple

ToHanazono

Ichinohashi
Bridge371
Koya-Ryujin Skyline RoadTo Tanabe・Shirahama

Kōyasan Reihōkan
MuseumDaishi Kyōkai Honbu
Info. KCCN( Koyasan Cross-cultural Communication Network)

To Tanabe・Shirahama

Kōyasan Shukubō AssociationLodging; accommodation in Koyasan
Temples that provide lodging to guests are known as Shukuo. There are 117 temples here of which 52 provide
lodgings. We provide assistance for enjoyable stay at Koyasan. Contact us for Shukubo reservations.

Koyasan Shukubo Association
600 Koyasan Ito-gun, Wakayama-ken 648-0211 Japan
Tel : 81-736-56-2616 Fax : 81-736-56-2889 URL : www.shukubo.net

Kongōbu-ji Temple, Head Temple of Kōyasan Shingon-shū Buddhism
高野山真言宗 総本山金剛峯寺
International Department 132 Koyasan Ito-gun, Wakayama-ken 648-0211 Japan
Tel : 81-736-56-1300 Fax : 81-736-56-4640
kokusaikyoku@koyasan.or.jp http://www.koyasan.or.jp/english/index.html

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